Laurence C. Hesselgrave, World War II CasualtyPorter County Data on World War II Casualties . . . .
Laurence C. Hesselgrave
Tec 4, 242nd Infantry, 42nd Infantry Division, US Army
Date of Birth: February 12, 1918
Date of Death: January 29, 1945
Burial: Graceland Cemetery, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana
Cause of Death: Accident (gasoline stove explosion)
Date of Enlistment: March 11, 1941
Hometown: Valparaiso
Newspaper Notices:
Soldier Dies In So. Pacific; Flier Missing
Two names today were added to Porter county's casualty list as a Valparaiso
soldier was reported killed in action, and a Cook's Corners flyer is missing
over Germany.
The dead soldier is Lawrence Hesselgrave, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Hesselgrave,
of McIntyre Court.
Missing is Lieut. Paul Goodrich, 23, of Valparaiso RFD 1.
Pvt. Hesselgrave was killed in action in the South Pacific, according to word
received Tuesday night by his parents. His father is a janitor at Porter
Memorial hospital.
Recently word was received here of young Hesselgrave meeting one of his brothers
in New Guinea. Four brothers of the dead soldier are in the armed forces. He has
a wife and child living at Knox.
Lieut. Goodrich, a pilot on a Flying Fortress, stationed in England with the 8th
Air Force, is missing following a mission over Germany Jan. 20. He entered the
service in August, 1938, and made his first mission over Germany on Aug. 8,
1944.
At the time he was reported missing he had 30 missions to his credit. On Jan. 8
last he wrote his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nick Goodrich, that he had five more
missions to complete and then was coming home.
The missing flyer attended Cook's Corners school and was graduated from
Valparaiso high school in 1938. Besides his parents he has a wife and daughter,
Paulette, four months old, living at Shreveport, La.; two brothers, Robert and
Edward, and two sisters, Marguerite and Beverly.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana;
February 7, 1945; Volume 18, Page 1, Column 8
Get Details of Soldier Son's Death; Four More County Men Wounded
Additional details of the death in New Guinea of Mess Sergeant Lawrence
Hesselgrave, reported in Thursday's Vidette-Messenger were learned today.
The youth, who would have celebrated his 27th birthday on February 12, ided on
January 29 as the result of burns sustained when a gasoline stove exploded on
January 25, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Hesselgrave, of McIntyre Court, were
informed by the War Department.
Young Hesselgrave enlisted in 1941, before Pearl Harbor and was attached to the
Rainbow Division at the time of the fatal mishap.
His brother, Eugene, a member of the See-Bees, was with him in New Guinea when
he died.
Two other brothers are in the service. John is a radio-telephone technician with
the U. S. Army medical corps in France. Another brother, Donald, lives at home.
Besides the parents and four brothers, a sister, Mrs. Clara Blanchard, of Idaho,
who husband, Nelson, is in the Navy, and his wife and child, residing at Knox,
Ind., survive. the sister is enroute to this city, the parents have been
advised. Mr. Hesselgrave, the father, is engineer at the Porter Memorial
hospital.
Four north Porter county families were apprised this week of casualties on the
western front.
Mr. and Mrs. William Wisemann, of Burdick, received a telegram Monday informing
them their son, Sgt. Alfred Wisemann, was wounded in action Jan. 16 in Belgium.
He is with the 1st Army. Last week they received a letter from him stating he
had been awarded the bronze star and the expert infantryman's medal. This is the
second time he has been wounded.
Pvt. John Murray, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Murray, of Chesterton, was
seriously wounded in action on January 18 Belgium, according to a telegram
received Tuesday. He was wounded in action several months ago.
Pvt. Homer Jenkins, brother of Mrs. John Hofman, of Chesterton, was reported
wounded in Belgium on January 7 although details of his injuries are not known.
He made his home with his sister up until the time he entered the service.
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Veden, of Chesterton, have received word from the war
department that their son, Sgt. Edward Veden, who was wounded in Germany the
last of December, is making normal improvement. Sgt. Veden, who is with the 1st
army was wounded in the hip and left knee.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana;
February 9, 1945; Volume 18, Page 1, Column 5
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List of
Porter County World War II Casualties
Information abstracted and transcribed by Steven R. Shook